Dexter Defeats Saline 21-14 to Win SEC-Red Title

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>1st Quarter Key Plays</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Saline wide receiver <strong>Garrett Baldwin</strong> had a nice gain on an end around. Saline finished off that opening drive with a rushing touchdown by <strong>Ryan Niethammer</strong> to give Saline an early 6-0 lead with 7:17 left in the 1st quarter. Saline wide receiver <strong>Cade Fox</strong> had a big reception to the Dexter 22-yard line. A few plays later Dexter recovered a fumble at the 13 yard line with 2:51 left to go in the 1st quarter. Dexter wide receiver <strong>Joey Tessmer</strong> had a nice reception to get Dexter to mid-field with 50 seconds left in the 1st quarter. <strong>Joey Tessmer </strong>did a great job in this game picking up yards after the catch. Dexter quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='243465' first='Reeves' last='Taylor']</strong> had an excellent night throwing the football. His timing and accuracy with the Tessmer and the other receivers was outstanding. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2nd Quarter Key Plays</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dexter running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='162655' first='Cole' last='Cabana'] </strong>had a big gain to setup Dexter in the Redzone. A few plays later<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='162655' first='Cole' last='Cabana']</strong> scored a rushing touchdown to give Dexter a 7-6 lead with 8:49 left in the 2nd quarter. Dexter safety <strong>Micah Davis </strong>came down with a huge interception at the 7:17 mark in the 2nd quarter. [player_tooltip player_id='162655' first='Cole' last='Cabana'] finished off the drive with a 14-yard touchdown to give Dexter a 14-6 lead with 5:52 to go before halftime. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>3rd Quarter Key Plays</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Saline running back <strong>Ryan Niethammer</strong> ran the ball effectively in the 3rd quarter. Saline quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='77217' first='CJ' last='Carr']</strong> had a nice rushing touchdown to tie the game up at 14-14 with a successful two-point conversion following the touchdown. Dexter tight end <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='30328' first='Brennan' last='Parachek']</strong> had a big play reception for Dexter halfway through the third. Dexter recovered a fumble with 1:59 to stop a promising Saline drive. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4th Quarter Key Plays</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Micah Davis </strong>delivered a big hit to create a key pass breakup with 9:48 in the 4th quarter. Dexter running back [player_tooltip player_id='162655' first='Cole' last='Cabana'] had a rushing touchdown late in the 4th quarter to give Dexter a 21-14 lead. Dexter linebacker <strong>Noah Pitts</strong> had a nice tackle for loss late in the 4th quarter. <strong>Noah Pitts </strong>had a great game for Dexter. He has very good play strength and was all over the field making tackles. Saline wide receiver<strong> Garrett Baldwin </strong>had an outstanding catch on 4th &amp; long to keep the Saline drive alive with 1:02 remaining in the football game. The Dexter defense was able to stop Saline on a 4th &amp; goal with under 10 seconds in the game to come out with a victory. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This was a fantastic football game to watch that was extremely competitive. The stars for both teams really came to play. Saline falls to 6-2 on the season and Dexter now moves to 8-0 on the year. This is Dexter's best start to a season since 1963 when they finished the year 8-0. They will travel to face Chelsea (5-3) next week for the regular season finale. Saline will take on Lake Orion (4-4) next week. Both teams have had great seasons and have both secured playoff spots. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->